Marvel Confirms Time-Traveling Wolverine Is The Worst Idea Ever
Warning! Spoilers ahead X Lives of Wolverine #3 and X Deaths of Wolverine #3
Wolverine's time travel mission has gone completely off the rails. Not only has Logan been sent to the past to save the life of Professor Xavier, but his future self has also been sent to the present to prevent the dark days ahead. Additionally, both versions of Wolverine have decided to try and drastically change their histories, rewriting the past and present simultaneously. As a result, the odds are strong that both missions will collide into something much worse than either Wolverine intended.
In previous issues of X Lives of Wolverine, Logan's mind has been sent into the bodies of past selves at various points in time, attempting to save the life of Professor X who's been targeted by Russia's time-traveling assassin Omega Red. Given Xavier's critical position as the founder of the X-Men as well as the mutants' new island nation of Krakoa, killing him in the past would irrevocably change the very course of mutantkind's past, present, and future. However, the problem is that Wolverine has to be sent back through his own history, having no choice but to relive some of his darkest days such as missions with Weapon X. As such, present-Logan has already changed events by attacking his fellow squadmates Sabretooth and Maverick, an act which could very well rewrite his origins. Likewise, Omega Red's time-travel methods have him possessing the bodies of anyone he wishes, and that includes Logan's wife Itsu who was killed in the 1940s. However, Wolverine was nearly forced to kill her which could have erased his future son Daken from existence.
Likewise, Wolverine's mission in the past may mean nothing after Omega Red has possessed Logan himself at the end of the new X Lives of Wolverine #3 from Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara. As if that wasn't bad enough, the connected X Deaths of Wolverine #3 from Percy and Federico Vicentini just revealed that its new Omega Wolverine is indeed the real Logan from the future, bonded with the cybernetic species known as the Phalanx. Living as the last mutant thanks to Moira MacTaggert, Wolverine has time-traveled to the present (his past) to rewrite his history as well, starting by saving his kids Daken, Laura, and Gabby. As result, it seems to be only a matter of time before both time-travel missions clash, resulting in a dumpster fire where the timeline will be damaged beyond repair.
Clearly, both versions of the same Wolverine are struggling with their pasts, though it's likely going to get far worse. What happens when the actions of one Wolverine start to affect the timeline and status quo of the other? Although their missions have been isolated so far, that will likely come to an end sooner rather than later (especially if past-Logan can't shake the hold of Omega Red before he's used to kill Professor X).
Regardless of the particular time-displaced Wolverine, Logan being sent to the past is just a very bad idea. While he was likely the only one who could save Xavier, the odds are strong that it's all going to blow up in the X-Men's face. Combined with the Omega Wolverine in the present trying to stave off a major crisis involving Moira's plans to wipe out mutantkind with the Phalanx, there's no telling what will become of the timeline once X Lives and X Deaths of Wolverine concludes.